


You're Safe (it's okay to cry)

by Ramencat5



Series: Stray Littles <3 [2]
Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Age Regression, Age Regression/De-Aging, Caregiver! Chan, Comfort, Crying, Gen, Sadness, agere, it's sad boi hours, little! felix
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-23
Updated: 2020-02-23
Packaged: 2021-02-27 14:00:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 794
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22464490
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ramencat5/pseuds/Ramencat5
Summary: Chan reminds Felix that it's okay to be sad for a while.
Series: Stray Littles <3 [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1534106
Comments: 3
Kudos: 207





	You're Safe (it's okay to cry)

**Author's Note:**

> This is a Chanlix oneshot I wrote before finishing the drafts for my other little fic :3 Posting before the ao3 draft gets deleted~

Felix splashed cold water on his face, attempting to rid himself of pink splotches and tear stains. He succeeded in making the redness fade from his eyes, something he could play off as fatigue to the others.

Once again, he had messed up. Sure, it was a very trivial matter, but he felt guilty all the same. This time he had stumbled and spilled water on someone's bag during practice. Earlier that week he had done well during vocal lessons despite having a sore throat, but each time his voice rasped or cracked unexpectedly he felt worse. Then he had walked into the dorms late to find everyone asleep. He had been alone with his thoughts for a few hours, and overthinking never ended well for him. Another day he'd forgotten to put one of their phones on charge and the battery died while at the company. Luckily some of the members carried power banks.

He knew he should go to someone to talk his feelings out, but what would he say? 'Oh hey, just felt really bad about myself for the fourth time this week about something stupid' would result in questions and empty-sounding reassurances. He chose to stay quiet instead.

"I got this." He looked at his reflection in the mirror.

The moment he stepped out of the bathroom he froze.

"I don't got this," he muttered.

Chan was sitting on his bed. "Hey Felix."

Drat.

"Can we talk?" He asked quietly. "You've been distant recently."

"Really? I'm fine." Felix sat down.

"You haven't talked much to anyone in the past few days, and you've been avoiding skinship. I know you love cuddles," he pointed out, "So I can assume something's bothering you."

"It's nothing." Felix felt his emotions overcoming him again. His hands clenched the bedsheets as he tried to hold back tears, the stubborn lump in his throat returning. He had one foot in his younger headspace, the other in big space.

"Lix?" Chan could sense his distress. He shuffled closer. "Sunshine, you can talk to me. No judgement here," he reminded. The younger's back was turned, head low, bottom lip between his teeth. He shook his head.

Then he was being pulled into Chan's lap, fingers combing through his hair. His forehead was pressed to the elder's chest with one arm wrapped around him holding him tightly.

"Hyungie is here, sunshine."

That was all it took to tip Felix over the edge. Fat tears threatened to roll down his cheeks as he pressed his head into the crook of Chan's neck, clinging to him tightly. "Not sunshine today, 'm not happy, not haengbokie. Not being good, hyungie's gonna be upset. There's too much in my head."

Chan made the connection a few moments later. "Oh love." The boy in his arms relaxed slightly at the name. "You don't have to be happy all the time when you're little. You're allowed to feel sad. That's why you go little, isn't it? Sometimes you have to feel sad first to feel better later. That does not, and will never, make you a bad little. You will always be our sunshine no matter what," Chan said. "Our lovely haengbokie."

He was still for a minute, waiting for a response, then frowned when he heard muted sniveling.

He spoke in a soft but firm voice. "Look at me love." The little pulled away enough to make eye contact, lips quivering. Was he in trouble? Was hyungie mad?

"It's just you and me here for a while. Cry it all out, as loud as you want to. No more forcing yourself to be quiet. It's okay."

"S'okay?"

"Mhm." Chan nodded.

A few tears fell first, before Felix started crying. Hard. Chan swayed sideways, rocking him tenderly as his sobs and wails echoed through the empty dorm. "I've got you Lix. It's okay," he murmured, reassuring the boy in his arms. His heart broke at the shrill cries, and he only held on tighter.

It took twenty minutes for Felix to calm down, cries turning into small sniffles.

"Feel better now?" Chan asked, wiping Felix's tears.

He nodded, pressing his ear against his caregiver's chest. The sound of his heartbeat was as comforting as the feeling of his own pulse under his fingers when nerves got the better of him. A small smile tugged at his lips as he squeezed Chan's hand twice, before laying his head down.

_"A squeeze means I love you when I don't want to talk," he told Chan once, explaining his non-verbal actions._

Chan smiled fondly at Felix as he fell asleep, head in Chan's lap. In the back of his mind he knew a conversation was due when Felix was out of headspace, but for now things were okay.


End file.
